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Neva Paris Autograph on a 1929 (Sept 12th) typed letter to Cliff Henderson (Managing director of...

Currency:USD Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:NA Estimated At:150.00 - 250.00 USD
Neva Paris Autograph on a 1929 (Sept 12th) typed letter to Cliff Henderson (Managing director of...
Neva Paris Autograph on a 1929 (Sept 12th) typed letter to Cliff Henderson (Managing director of the National Air Races) on personal letterhead stationery. In the letter she thanks him for the flowers he sent to her on her ship and for those awaiting her arrival in Cleveland (where she arrived for the Air Races). She goes on to say: "I also want to thank you for your splendid working connection to the National Air Races. Quite naturally, I think our derby (the Powder Puff Derby) was a real event, and I want to take this opportunity to express the hope that it will be an annual one and always be a part of the National Air Races". Of the forty women who were qualified to fly in the Derby, 19 actually flew and 16 finished. Amelia Earhart came in third. On November 26, 1929 (just 2 months after this letter was written), 26 women gathered at Curtiss Airport, Valley Stream, New York (to form an organization for women pilots to be called "The Ninety-Nines"). "The weather wasn't favorable and most drove in or came by train. The first order of business was the selection of Neva Paris as temporary chairman...The women conducted their business in a hanger above the din of a Curtiss Challenger engine running up as the work of the mechanics proceeded around them. Tea was served from a tool box wagon on wheels.". Amelia Earhart became the first elected President of the Ninety-Nines two years later when the group next met again. A rare, important letter. Estimate: $ 150 - 250